God’s Ultimate Dwelling Place Is with Us
Share
Do you ever struggle with feeling out of place? Like the skin you are in doesn’t quite feel like home? Maybe exhausted from the endless struggles of being a person in a body?
Well, we all feel this way from time to time, but there are moments where Heaven breaks through and we feel a sense of other worldly peace. Where our souls feel rest, beauty and goodness shine through. It’s moments of seeing things as they are meant to be, and even more exciting than that, it’s the way they one day will be.
Revelation 21:3 declares, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.’”
God’s ultimate plan for us, his people and his creation, is to dwell with us. His permanent, forever dwelling place is with us. What a crazy thought to ponder while we are stuck here in the middle, advocating for Heaven to touch us but not yet free from the powers of evil that cause strife and struggle for humanity.
From the start of creation, he saw the ending. This is why he could say what he had done – what he had created – was good. He knew this creation would be one that would go through some things, that would wander and stray, but at the end of his story would be a reunion. All creation groans for his plan of redemption and grace to come to completion. He made a way to make right the many wrongs that humanity has committed. We are a part of a story leading to the unification of the holy Creator and his beloved Creation.
How Do We Live in This Place of Waiting?
Right now, all things (including our hearts) are waiting to be made new again! As we long for God to come down from Heaven and dwell with us again, it can be challenging to see the beauty of his plan. We are his children and we struggle with doubt and a lack of faith. It is a fight for us to take him at his Word. Which is why we must saturate ourselves in his Word so we know it, we believe it, and we grow to rely on it.
While waiting, it's our job to get to know him. John 17:3 tells us, "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
Eternity starts now and how we see it in the land of the living is through a dynamic, growing relationship with Christ. This relationship is defined by his love and mercy that chases after us for all of our days (Psalm 23:6). We don’t know God through a salvation hack, we know him when we give him our hearts and he miraculously changes us so we can experience freedom.
Knowing God comes when we take time to be in his house and in his presence. His house is the church and his presence is always available to us, but is best accessed through prayer and praise. Have you ever felt unsettled and then just stilled yourself in prayer? How quickly does quiet time with the Lord change our hearts! What about a moment you felt discouraged and then you gathered with other believers in the church? God so often graciously uses the words of other Christ followers to encourage us. He does not leave us alone in the waiting.
As we know him, we grow in his love, and then we can share it. 2 Corinthians 5:14 tells us, "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died." His love compels us to action. To share. To serve. To change our thought patterns. To consider and create goodness and beauty. His love is a transformative power for all who know him.
Knowing Our Future Gives Us Peace in the Present
As you consider the future and the anxiety that sometimes lives out there in the great unknown, remember that God has a plan. He is sovereign over all and his goal is reunification with us, his beloved creation. God doesn’t share many things with us, but he has graciously clued us into the most important aspects of his forever plan.
While we face trials of many kinds, the end of the story is a good one. One day we will dwell with God! All will know him, see him, and be submitted under his rule. What a future to look forward to!
Recently, my therapist shared that when you know where you are headed, it gives you strength to overcome trials of many kinds as you journey forward. This is why at the start of a marriage you begin with vows that point to remaining faithful until death. When you share a life together, there are so many bumps on the road. But the goal remains faithful devotion until one of you leaves this earth.
God’s promise to us that we will one day dwell in his house with him is like those marriage vows. It’s a promise that we can cling to when life around us makes no sense. When our needs feel greater than his goodness. When loss tears at the fabric of our hearts. While we still have to walk through the hard, we are overcomers through Christ! We have a good future ahead that inspires hope for our lost and dying world. Don’t lose sight of the hope that is yours through Christ.
God Is a Relational King
God’s main aim isn’t just to put right all the wrongs for the sake of justice. If that was true, then humanity would not have lasted long because it would have made more sense to scrap us than to patiently allow us time to find him. God’s main goal is to be with us.
That’s why he tells us about a forever Heavenly home with him that gets our imaginations excited. He wants us to know that what he cares about most is the chance to one day walk his streets of gold hand-in-hand. Until then, he wants to live in our homes, be the guide of our hearts, and show us his ways.
The God over all Creation loves you and his ultimate dwelling place is with you. You are not a means to an end, you are the end. You are the gift that he has moved all Heaven and Earth to get to know. Thank you Jesus for that truth.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Natali_Mis
